Location | Rock Harbor, Isle Royale National Park, Michigan |
---|---|
Coordinates | 48°5′21″N88°34′45″W / 48.08917°N 88.57917°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1855 |
Construction | brick/stone [1] |
Height | 50 feet (15 m) |
Markings | White with black lantern [1] |
Heritage | National Register of Historic Places listed place |
Light | |
First lit | 1856 |
Lens | Fourth order Fresnel lens [1] |
Rock Harbor Lighthouse | |
NRHP reference No. | 77000154 [2] |
Added to NRHP | March 8, 1977 |
The Rock Harbor Lighthouse is a light station located in Rock Harbor on Isle Royale National Park, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. [2]
The Rock Harbor Lighthouse is a 50-foot-tall (15 m) cylindrical tower with a 16-foot-diameter (4.9 m) base, [3] constructed of randomly placed stone and brick, capped with an octagonal beacon [4] with a copper roof. [3] A one-and-a-half-story keeper's house with gabled roof is connected to the tower on one end. [4]
In 1852, due to the increase in shipping in Lake Superior, it was recommended that a new light be constructed on Isle Royale; the next year, Congress appropriated $5,000 to construct a light at Rock Harbor. [3] Construction began in 1855, and was completed in 1856. [3] The Rock Island Light was the first lighthouse constructed on Isle Royale. [4] The first keeper arrived at the station on October 24, 1856, and the lighthouse went into operation a short time later. [3]
The light had been manned for less than three years when it was determined that, due to the decrease in mining traffic, it was no longer required. [3] It was extinguished on August 1, 1859, and the lighthouse was abandoned. [3] During the American Civil War, copper mining increased once more, and in 1873 renovations began on the station, leading to the reactivation of the light on August 5, 1874. However, after another drop in copper prices, and following the activation in 1875 of the Isle Royale Light at Menagerie Island, the Rock Harbor Light was rendered less useful. [3] On October 4, 1879, the Rock Harbor lighthouse was deactivated for the second and last time, having been in service for a total of only eight years since its construction. [5]
In 1910, the keeper's house was altered, including the addition of dormers. In the 1950s, the tower began to tilt, and an emergency stabilization was undertaken; the tower still leans approximately 2 degrees. [3] The original wooden roof of the structure was replaced with asphalt in 1962, and the foundation was stabilized in 1969. [4] The station is currently unmanned.
Isle Royale National Park is an American national park consisting of Isle Royale, along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in the state of Michigan.
Copper Harbor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Grant Township. The population of the CDP was 136 as of the 2020 census.
The New Presque Isle Light was built in 1870, at Presque Isle, Michigan, east of Grand Lake, and sits on the namesake peninsula. It is one of 149 lighthouses in Michigan, more than any other state. Because of changing shoreline particularly, or alternatively deterioration of the original building, it is not uncommon for a replacement lighthouse to be placed in the vicinity of an earlier light, in this case, the Old Presque Isle Light.
The following is a list of Registered Historic Places in Keweenaw County, Michigan.
This National Park Service list is complete through NPS recent listings posted August 11, 2023.
Eagle Harbor Light is an operational lighthouse at Eagle Harbor, in Keweenaw County in the state of Michigan. It sits on the rocky entrance to Eagle Harbor and is one of several light stations that guide mariners on Lake Superior across the northern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The original lighthouse, built in 1851, was replaced in 1871 by the present red brick structure, which is a Michigan State Historic Site and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Lynde Point Light or Lynde Point Lighthouse, also known as Saybrook Inner Lighthouse, is a lighthouse in Connecticut, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Connecticut River on the Long Island Sound, Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The first light was a 35 feet (11 m) wooden tower constructed by Abisha Woodward for $2,200 and it was completed in 1803. A new lighthouse was eventually needed and a total of $7,500 was appropriated on July 7, 1838. Jonathan Scranton, Volney Pierce, and John Wilcox were contracted to build the new 65-foot (20 m) octagonal brownstone tower. It was constructed in 1838 and lit in 1839. The lighthouse was renovated in 1867 and had its keeper's house from 1833 replaced in 1858 with a Gothic Revival gambrel-roofed wood-frame house. In 1966, the house was torn down and replaced by a duplex house. The original ten lamps were replaced in 1852 with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, and with a fifth-order Fresnel lens in 1890. Lynde Point Lighthouse used whale oil until 1879 when it switched to kerosene. It was electrified in 1955 and fully automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1978. In 1990, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is significant for its "superior stone work in the tapering brownstone walls".
The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse is an automated active lighthouse, and stands at the south end of the northern breakwater protecting the Chicago Harbor, to the east of Navy Pier and the mouth of the Chicago River.
Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse located within Fort Constitution in New Castle, New Hampshire, United States.
The Copper Harbor Light is a lighthouse located in the harbor of Copper Harbor, Michigan USA on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan inside Fort Wilkins Historic State Park. It is a Michigan State Historic Site and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Manistique East Breakwater Light is a lighthouse is located in the harbor of Manistique, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Marquette Harbor Light is located on Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan, a part of the Upper Peninsula. It is an active aid to navigation.
The Rock of Ages Light is a U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse on a small rock outcropping approximately 2.25 miles (3.62 km) west of Washington Island and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Isle Royale, in Eagle Harbor Township, Keweenaw County, Michigan. It is an active aid to navigation.
The Stannard Rock Light is a lighthouse located on a reef that was the most serious hazard to navigation on Lake Superior. The exposed crib of the Stannard Rock Light is rated as one of the top ten engineering feats in the United States. It is 24 miles (39 km) from the nearest land, making it the most distant lighthouse in the United States. It was one of the "stag stations", manned only by men, and had the nickname "The Loneliest Place in the World".
Indian Island Light is a lighthouse on Indian Island on the eastern side of the entrance to Rockport Harbor, Maine. It was first established in 1850. The present structure was built in 1875. It was deactivated in 1934 and is now a private residence. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Indian Island Light Station on March 23, 1988.
Winter Harbor Light is a lighthouse in Winter Harbor, Maine. It is located on Mark Island, a small island between the Schoodic Peninsula and Turtle Island, near the entry to the town's main harbor. The light was built in 1856 and was deactivated in 1933; it is no longer an aid to navigation, and is privately owned. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Winter Harbor Light Station on February 1, 1988.
The Gull Rock Light Station is an active lighthouse located on Gull Rock, just west of Manitou Island, off the tip of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, even as its condition deteriorated, resulting in its placement on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List.
The Passage Island Light Station is a lighthouse located 3.25 mi (5.23 km) NE of Isle Royale, in NW Lake Superior, Michigan on Passage Island. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The Ontonagon Light is a lighthouse located off M-64 near Ontonagon, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973.
The Racine Harbor Lighthouse and Life Saving Station is a complex of navigation aids begun by the U.S. government in the 1860s near the harbor of Racine, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The Middle Island Light is a lighthouse located on Middle Island in Lake Huron, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Alpena, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.